2012 Summer OlympicsMedia MonsterWeird But True

Ike Lochte Struggles To Keep Her Head Above Water, Doesn’t Want Her Son To Save Her From Drowning In Debt

A bad economy doesn’t discriminate, not even if your son has won a few Olympic gold medals. That’s something Ryan Lochte’s parents Ike and Steve learned the hard way, as TMZ reports they are buried in debt and are in danger of losing their home.

According to a lawsuit filed in Volusia County, FL … CitiMortgage claims Steven and Ileane Lochte took out a mortgage loan for $258,000 back in 2007 and they were to pay $1,609.58/month.

But according to the bank, the Lochtes stopped making payments in February 2011 — and now owe $242,239 (plus interest) on the home. The bank is suing to foreclose on the house in order to get its money back.

The trickier parts of the ordeal, according to the lawsuit, are that the Lochtes took the loan out before they filed for divorce in 2010, and that failure to match the debt through sale of the house will require the Lochtes to cover the difference. And that’s where Ike and Steve’s Olympic champion of a son, who has been showering in endorsements for a few years now, comes into the fold.

Realistically, he could probably spot his parents the G’s they need without his wallet feeling any the lighter, but Mrs. Lochte wants her son to have nothing to do with it. You’d think it would be because she knows he’d rather spend his money on all those one-night stands, but apparently Ryan’s social life had nothing to do with Ike’s refusal. Who knew?

According to Lochte’s spokeswoman Erika Wright, here’s Ike’s real reasoning (via BuzzFeed):

“She has since refused to accept financial assistance from her children because she wants to do what she can as a woman, mother and adult to handle her own matters without taking money from her kids,” Wright added. “It’s a shame that the media had to exploit her own personal problems to gain attention at her expense simply because her son is in the news. However she is in the process of taking care of the matter as evidenced by the filing of a motion to dismiss.”

Seems like a pretty fair stance from Mrs. Lochte to me. You could probably still make a case for Ike to get over her stubbornness and just accept help from her multi-millionaire of a son, but if your son was Ryan Lochte, maybe you wouldn’t want him to have anything to do with your finances either. Something tells me Ike has watched her son’s interviews.

[TMZ, BuzzFeed, photo via]